Any Man of Mine
by peace10
Summary: Based on the song Any Man of Mine by Shania Twain
1. Chapter 1

_This is what a woman wants_

_Any man of mine better walk the line_

_Better show me a teasin' squeazin' pleasin' kinda time_

_I need a man who knows how the story goes_

_He's gotta be a heartbeatin' fine treatin'_

_Breathtakin' earthquakin' kind_

_Any man of mine_

Gabriella Montez was not your typical 21 year old woman. In fact she was never your typical little girl. When you're a young girl you're made to believe that when you grow up that Prince Charming will arrive, sweep you of your feet and you'll live happily ever after. Early in life she discovered that this is what the publishers of books and Hollywood wanted you to believe, bringing to your life fairytales, but in reality she thought it was bullshit.

She was seven when her father walked out on her and her mother claiming he had fallen in love, but that he didn't mean for it to happen. The person he had fallen in love with was his fresh out of college new assistant who in his words was vibrant, athletic and loved to go out on the town. Apparently working long hours, having a curvier figure and wanting to stay at home rather than go out didn't work in her mother, Maria's favor. So her parents divorced and in the aftermath Maria was determined to be the best single mother that ever existed. And she was.

After watching her mother have her heart ripped out her chest, she was puzzled as to how she could still believe in love.

"_Awe, Mia. I'm still a woman who is still a romantic at heart and believes in love. Women all over the world have their hearts broken everyday but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist_." Maria would remind her.

After a few years of healing her mother finally felt she was ready to 'get back out there'. She began to date casually but if she clicked with someone she would take it further. She had several boyfriends over the years all starting off to be 'mind blowing' as she would say, then at some point it would be revealed as to whom these men really were. Even after all that Maria is still dating and trying to find 'the one'.

Gabriella respected her mother for going after something she wanted. A true, long lasting romantic relationship, but she had decided early in her teen years that there was no was in hell she was going down the same path of being so open minded to anyone. Gabriella had rules/tests that would prove to her if the pursuing man was good enough. She had boyfriends that would get through a couple of them but would fail on all other aspects and when they did she would kiss their cheek and walk away.

Sitting at a coffee shop with her pre-law books piled in front of her she looked out the window taking a break from the mind boggling text. With her I pod headphones nestled tightly in her ears, she listens to the song that has inspired her rules, _Any Man of Mine_ by Shania Twain. Even though she wasn't the biggest country fan there was something about this power woman song that had struck a cord with her from the first time she had heard it and seemed to fit when describing the type of man she was looking for. Her friends had called her crazy for 'setting such ridiculous standards based on a country song', but she had explained that it was no different than the high standards some of them had come up with. She had listened to the song a thousand times, but as she people watched out the window, her mind wondered if she would ever find someone that would make it through all of them, if such a man existed. After all she thought, there are six billion people on this planet, though the majority of them being women, she still felt that there had to be one in the two billion plus men out there, right? She was after all a 21 year old college student, though young in age their was still a small part of her that wanted someone to pass with flying colors and wanted to experience all that love entails.

The small and questioning part of her must have sent a signal out to the universe that day for sitting in the coffee shop with pre-law books in front of her it would grant her someone by the name of Troy Bolton.


	2. Chapter 2

Sorry Everyone!

I wanted to write a note just so there is no confusion on where this story is going or where I intend to go with it. Rather than write a song fic that was a one shot I wanted to break it out into various chapters. Gabi's rules/tests correspond to lines in the song Any Man of Mine by Shania Twain. So the 1st 2 lines in this chapter thus coorespond with rule/test #1. It is my bad as an author that I didn't explain this earlier and I hope this clarifies any confusion. I will work harder on this story so that it may be easy for you later on but if you have any questions, please feel free to send me a PM. :)

For those of you who have added this as a story alert, a favorite, author alert or reviewed, I can not express how honored I am at that! It means more to me then you will ever know. That goes for everyone who has read My Choice & Spontaneous Dance Party & CO Reunited. Each story inspired by my love of Vanessa and the gang and hopefully adding something fun to read for you.

Again thank you for reading and your support. It means the world to me. XOXO Heather

_Any man of mine better be proud of me_

_Even when I'm ugly he still better love me_

_Realizing the longer she stared out the window, the longer it would take her to finish reading the assigned case studies amongst the other assignments handed to her, Gabriella refocuses and gets back to work. A couple minutes into reading the text in front of her, someone taps her on the shoulder. She looks up eyes widening slightly recognizing the individuals face. Taking her headphones out of her ears she listens intently as to what he may want._

"_I'm sorry to ask you this, but do you mind if I share this table with you. There's not an open seat in this place and I would go to the place down the street if I hadn't ordered food."_

"_Umm, no, it's okay. Let me just move some of these." Gabriella begins to reshuffle books she doesn't need at the moment and places them in her bag._

"_Thank you. I really appreciate this and I promise not to bother you."_

_She smiles, and then shakes her head. "Don't worry about it." _

_With her books out of the way he takes a seat. Putting out his hand with a genuine smile, "I'm Troy Bolton."_

_Gabriella returns a smile while grasping his hand. "I know. Gabriella Montez."_

_His eyebrows meet in confusion. "I'm sorry have we met before, I'm terrible with names, but I am usually good at recognizing faces."_

_Gabriella smirks at his obvious lack of popularity. "No but your face just seems to be all over campus and the school newspaper during basketball season."_

_He chuckles to hide his embarrassment. "Ah, yah well it only started last year when we actually started winning. Have you gone to any of them?"_

"_Gone to what?"_

"_Any of the home games."_

_Tucking her lower lip between her teeth she shakes her head. "Umm, no sorry I'm not really into sports."_

"_To busy with law, right?"_

"_I'm sorry, but how did you know I was a law student?"_

_Pointing to the books in front of her he casually states, "your books kind of give you away."_

_Embarrassed her cheeks redden over the obvious evidence in front of her. "Oh, yah it definitely fills my time."_

"_I can understand that. This school definitely can kick you ass on the academic side."_

_Gabriella sneaks a glance over at him watching him struggle trying to get one of his books out of his bag. He finally completes his mission but accidently slams it on the table causing her to jump slightly._

_Embarrassed he responds sincerely, "sorry."_

"_Wow! I thought my law books we the thickest of all curriculum here."_

_Chuckling Troy flashes a smile. "Little did you know Montez that astronomy may put your law books to the test."_

"_Astronomy, huh? Not a major I would think of a basketball superstar."_

_Taken aback slightly Troy looks at her through narrowed eyes straight on. "And whys that exactly?"_

_Gabriella feels the heat rise at the base of her neck which then begins to travel north and spread across her face as his ocean eyes pierce her chocolate ones. Feeling flustered by the look he is giving her she takes a deep breathe trying to regain her control. "Um, I don't know. You don't have a dream to go into the NBA or sports medicine just in case you don't make the… the um…"_

_Amused at watching her struggle for words Troy decides to help her. "You mean the draft? That's what they call it in sports terms."_

_Clearing her throat, "yah, the draft. So no NBA or medicine?"_

"_Nope if I wanted the NBA I would have chosen Duke, Baylor or Syracuse. In regards to medicine I know I don't have the stomach for it. I've always loved space so that's why I chose astronomy. I want to work for NASA someday and CU has an amazing program for it. Basketball is just helping me get there."_

"_I'm impressed."_

"_Thanks. Is that a good thing?" Troy flashes her a million dollar smile._

_Gabriella narrows her eyes and responds, "what that I'm impressed?"_

"_Yah." Troy gives her one nod upwards challenging her teasing._

"_It is. I mean all the jocks I've met before are just about the sport not the school part. You seem to be focused and want it."_

"_I can assure you that for me the school part comes first. I do very well," responding strongly with confidence._

_With one eyebrow raised she's even more intrigued. "Really, what's your GPA?"_

"_What's yours?"_

_Shaking her head she accompanies it with a smile. "I asked you first."_

"_But ladies go first." Loving their little banter going back and forth on something so simple._

_Looking at him dead in the eye she places both hands on the table to solidify her position on the question at hand. "Well it's 2010 and I'm a feminist and though I appreciate your chivalry I still insist you go first."_

_Amused Troy looks at her with narrowed eyes. "Oh, I get it. You're worried I have a higher GPA then you." He chuckles shaking his head._

_Gabriella shakes her head in response. "What? I can assure you that's not it," trying hard to cover that's exactly what was on her mind though obviously failing. _

"_It's okay really and as you said you did ask me to go first so here's the answer to your question Montez – it's a 3.6."_

_Gabriella's widen and sat back in shock by the latest information just revealed. Here she was sitting across from Troy Bolton, CU Campus' famous basketball player with a Greek god body, mesmerizing blue eyes and a smile to knock you dead on you feet from the very first sight of him. The photos that she had seen of him on campus did not give this man justice. And to top it all off he was a fucking genius. She knew how hard the department he was in was and he was able to do it successfully while also being one of the stars of the basketball team._

_The men in her past had done well academically, but no one had come close to beating her GPA. As she sat across from him, his eyebrows rose obviously awaiting her score she didn't want to answer him as he had already called it correctly, he had her beat._

Gabriella shook her head silently chuckling to herself reminiscing about her first encounter with Troy. His 'I promise to not bother you' statement went unsuccessfully as they ended up talking for three hours without pause. His food had finally arrived and e offered her half of his turkey club which she respectfully declined as she was a vegetarian, but helped herself to some of his French fries instead. Realizing the time both panicked at the lack of work accomplished putting them behind, but both smiled not minding the extra work ahead. They had exchanged numbers and left the coffee shop separately. From that fate filled day they had spoken daily and shared several dates that in Gabriella's could not have gone better.

After their conversation yesterday it was obvious to her that Troy wanted to take them a step further which was why she was currently standing at the current intersection waiting to cross the street. He was at his weekly Beyond Boulder meeting and wanted to introduce her to his friends/classmates. Usually they would meet on campus but this week they had decided to meet at a local sandwich shop. To say that she was nervous would be an understatement especially since she was running late due to the Public Service Pledge Program which was a voluntary program where law students pledge to volunteer a minimum of 50 hours during their time at school.

Dressed on an ivory pea coat that covered her black cashmere sweater paired with dark jeans she taps her foot eyeing the street light intently waiting for it to change. She glances over to where she was to meet Troy, only to watch him exit with his classmates. Spotting her across the street a smile breaks across his face and raises his hand to greet her with a wave. She returns the smile and waves back shyly. Hearing the gunning of an engine her head whips to the left to see an SUV obviously not wanting to sit through another red light, thus stepping on the gas and barrels through the intersection thus spewing the mud colored slush, the result of yesterday's snow storm every which way and covering her from head to toe.

After the initial shock Gabriella looks down to find her coat covered in dark splotches, the front of her jeans soaked, not to mention her hair resembling someone who had just stepped out of the shower. She lifts her left cream colored gloved hand to remove the street gunk from her face, thus turning her glove black. She wanted to run and hide but having already seen Troy she had no choice but to cross the street. Standing up straight with her shoulders back she begins to cross but watches Troy turn around and enter the sandwich shop. Feeling disappointed that he had disappeared obviously embarrassed by her appearance; her feet become heavier as he has just sealed his fate with rule/test #1 thus causing her to walk away.

As she placed both feet on the curb, she begins to walk towards the shop only to watch as Troy exit with a couple bar towels in hand. When she finally reached the store front, he warmly smiles at her and raises one of the towels to her face gently cleaning her. He looks at her intently taking great care at his task for several minutes before feeling satisfied; he lowers the towel and kisses her forehead gently. Giving her one last smile, he removes her right glove, thus being able to interlink their fingers and turns to his group of friends.

"Guys, I want you to meet my girlfriend Gabriella Montez."

Gabriella looks at him abruptly at the title he has given to her. He returns her stare with a smile that only accentuates his blue eyes filled with pride. In response she squeezes his hand in acceptance and turns to his group of friends presenting them with the most heartfelt smile she had ever given.

Rule / Test #1 – success!


End file.
